Progressive or Conservative: One In The Same

Conservative Republican Commentator Shelly Wynter and Progressive WOAK and CBS radio talk show host Dr. Rashad Richey may not have agreed to most subjects mentioned in Monday night’s episode of Newsmakers Lives; but, both guys are one in the same. Host, Maynard Eaton, moderated the political clash among Wynter and Richey.

Sparks began flying early as Richey and Wynter found themselves in disagreement over the special election for 6th Congressional District of Georgia for the house of representative. Despite the fact Wynter has said before he does not endorse candidates due to his conservatives view the possibility of hurting them in the polls, he would not mind seeing Jon Ossoff win simply to shake up the Republican party more since President Donald Trump election. The part of him that do not want Ossoff to win is the President Trump narratives media outlets will portray in the media, which he believes the President has nothing to do with this election.

Ossoff, who is presently leading in the polls and raised over 3.3 million dollars nationwide, have been the target of Trump’s tweet when trying to keep the majority in the house. As of today, Trump has tweeted this about Ossoff and the special elections:

“Democrat Jon Ossoff would be a disaster in Congress. Very weak on crime and illegal immigration, bad for jobs and wants higher taxes. Say NO”

and

“Republicans must get out and VOTE in Georgia 6. Force runoff and easy win! Dem Ossoff will raise your taxes very bad on crime & 2nd A.”

Richey disagreed, claiming Trump had made himself a part of the election when he first tweeted about Ossoff. Knowing Ossoff personally and him being a fan of his show, Richey stated he will not win the election. The elections will go into a runoff. If this happens, Republicans will rally against him. His only chance is to win outright tonight.

The sparks have ignited; however, nothing could prepare for the fireworks that erupted when Maynard asked Wynter his thoughts of President Trumps first 100 days in office.

The Trump supporter gave the current President a solid B when asked how he would grade his performance. Despite the constant slander, President Trump came out victorious in the Presidential election. For one, President Trump’s announced his running for office late. Secondly, Republicans, Democrats, and media all rallied against the new President since his campaign.

He stated the biased coverage of the President was based off alternative facts, which Richey accused Trump campaign team of creating the phrase.

“One and three black men are linked to the criminal justice system. An alternative fact to that is two out of three are not,” Wynters said.

Richey, on the other hand, had not been impressed with the President first 100 days in office and awarded President Trump an F minus. For him, the current President runs off of tweets and tweets alone as a part of his campaign strategy, disagreeing with Wynters when he stated President Trump did everything he said he was going to do. As if that was not enough to earn the President a failing grade, Richey also has an issue with the President’s hypocrisy of Syria.

He did not want Obama to get involved in the Syria crises, from a tweet he posted back in 2013. Here he is bombing Syria, Richey said.

They concluded President Trump do not care about Syria’s children. The have been dying for years, the manner in how they died is what upset President Trump. Richey found it astonishing how President Trump decided to bomb Syria for the children’s sake yet deny Syrian refugees into this country.

Wynter did not oppose Richey’s argument altogether. Instead, he explained the statement President Trump was making to the world. By launching 59 missiles to an abandoned warehouse in an open field was a political statement.

“President Trump wanted other countries to know there was a new sheriff in town,” Wynter stated in conclusion to the Syrian matter.

Eaton redirected the focus to Atlanta’s city mayor’s race as the two blatantly disagreed with Trump’s funding of HBCUs. Elections for the city next mayor took place yesterday, which Wynter believed Atlanta had seen the last of a Black mayor running the city.

“You have a base of support at Bankhead and Carver Heights. All these projects, you had your base. Under Shirley Franklin, you moved in Renee Glover, Atlanta housing authority. You dropped these projects. You have dispersed the Black people throughout the Diaspora of the metro Atlanta area. And now, you move in a condo of $500,000 owners and wonder where ss my black support. You threw them out,” said Wynter.

After predicting Kaseem Reed’s win when he was just around four percent in the polls, Wynters believe the election is going to come down to Councilwoman Mary Norwood and Vincent Ford, the only two candidates who do not share the same base of support as the other candidates. Richey agreed on the Wynter’s final two candidates but challenged Reeds miraculous win in the polls.

Kaseem Reed won because of the Georgia Democratic party, who usually don’t involve themselves in city council races. A mass email was sent to a bunch of Democrats accusing Norwood of actually being a Republican and giving money to the political party, Richey stated. “This could have possibly influenced the 740 votes Norwood lost by in the last elections.”

Wynters, amused by the irony of the situation, joked how they called the lady a Republican than elected a Republican.

Of the two final candidate predictions, Norwood is active in the community while Ford is the only candidate to mention decriminalizing marijuana and making college free for the first two years for any Atlanta public school graduates attending college.

When it comes to the President of Atlanta City Hall, Ceasar Mitchell, both guys agreed the city hall scandal tainted his campaign for mayor’s office despite the significant amount of money he raised. Richey invited Mitchell on his show to differentiate between the scandal at city hall and his campaign disclosure. Agreeing with Wynters, money does not solve the critical issues such as gentrification, public education, and other top issues.

Wynters said everyday voters view Mitchell in the same light as Reed. He stated the issues with candidates for city council, mayor or have been there will have residents question their ability to fix these critical issues if they have already been in office for years and have yet to correct the problem. To change this narrative, Wynter believes new blood is how you raise something new whether they have the experience or not.

Could the community of Greenwood re-emerge in the new city of South Fulton?

Discussions of the new city of South Fulton becoming the new Black Wall Street is one Newsmakers Live have heard before. During an interview with South Fulton District 1 city council millennial candidate Ehimen “E” Inegbedion, he spoke of making the new city a Black Mecca with the primary focus on black businesses and banks.

“Why have we not had another community to emerge like the Greenwood community of Tulsa, Oklahoma? My frustration is this should have happened years ago. It should have never gotten to this point,” Inegbedion said in reference

Four years will mark the hundredth anniversary since Black Wall Street burned to the ground. Wynters and Richey both agreed, if not successful executed, it would be years before another opportunity like this to come, and it would look as if Blacks do not know how to run their own city.

“These are spectacular times, dramatic in the history of not only Georgia but all across the country. What happens next is very important when creating these two new cities,” Wynters said.

The birth of a new city, South Fulton is a Black city. According to Richey, South Fulton will be the blackest city in Georgia per capita, becoming a city has created the perfect opportunity to build a Black Wall Street. Mayoral candidates are already discussing banking with black banks and black business development in the new city.

Residents form new cities when they are not happy with their city councils officials, Richey stated; or according to Wynters, how their tax dollars are being distributed. The city power shift from politicians to residents as they become more involved in the political process as the first time positions become available. New cities are always electing candidates with no experience; however, this may not be the case for the city of South Fulton mayor’s race.

William “Bill” Edwards and Benny Crane are the two front-runners for mayor in South Fulton with Edwards leading the packing. Labeling himself as “the mayor before there was a mayor,” Edwards served District 7 for 14 years as a member of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

Edwards, accused of advocating against the city of South Fulton until recently, lost his commissioner seat last year. As a guest on Richey show, he confirmed these allegations, yet still, leads the race for mayor.

Wynters finds this to be a problem. Edwards claims of having been the mayor of South Fulton is disingenuous for the people as well as many new successful new cities established near Atlanta has elected most, if not all, of their city council representatives and mayor with no political experience.

Because of Edward’s name recognition; Wynters wanting someone with no political experience to be the mayor of the new city does not seem ideal for Richey. Aside from Edwards ethics violation and the residents not voting for him as commissioner again, he is still leading in the polls despite Crane, who created the feasibility study propaganda for the city and everything around it.

“Black folks are tired of White folks telling them Black politics are not good, and by reiterating that for Edwards, the slander is just not sticking to him,” Richey said.

When asked, the hardest stigma the new city of South Fulton will have to face according to Richey is the crime and undeveloped land mass. He believes this is a public relations campaign and the biggest job they will face.

Wynters agreed wholeheartedly, but also, the mayor must not allow the city to be a broken city like the city of Atlanta. People can cheer about Atlanta being the Black Mecca, but reality is no Black money running the city by large.

The Black community needs to recognize the importance of what is happening. Blacks are now in a position to create what they have talked about what they have always needed, Wynter stated. An all Black power city is now coming up. By diluting it in any way, the city will become integrated.

For Richey, it was not integration that hurt the black community as much as assimilation where Black people felt the need to like White people. Now, they have the opportunity where Blacks, by way of the constitution, have access to mobility. A city with ninety percent Blacks, they have the choice to bank with Black banks. Missing this opportunity, Richey said, would personally drive him to put his foot up all their rear ends.

Despite their political differences, both men have more in common than what they believed. Richey and Wynter are successful in their fields and share a strong passion for politics. The men are not afraid to speak their minds and have no problem correcting someone presenting incorrect facts. Moreover, they have the facts to prove it!